Michael Nelson floats in a boat made from a metal tub and fishing floats after the Neuse River went over its banks and flooded his street during Hurricane Florence September 13, 2018 in New Bern. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46 WJZY) - The number of North Carolina residents without power is now more than 480,000, according to North Carolina Emergency Management.

The outages were announced just after 9:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 14 as the eye of Hurricane Florence wobbled slowly southwestward just off the coast of southeastern North Carolina, near the border with South Carolina.

The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of up to 21 mph (34 kph) on Friday morning in Columbia.

That's about 220 miles (354 kilometers) from Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, where Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at 7:15 a.m. Friday, coming ashore along a mostly boarded-up, emptied-out stretch of coastline.

The Charlotte area is expected to see heavy rain and 30-40 mph winds in the coming days, which could cause power outages and flooding in certain areas.